Backpacking Background:I am getting back into backpacking and just recently (in
the last year) backpacked some private trails twice in Tennessee.
I have been an avid car-camper for ten years and I have kayak/canoe
camped for three years, both mostly in Tennessee, Missouri and
Arkansas. I am slowly
collecting lighter gear (approximately 35 lb [16 kg] pack weight) as my car camping gear is heavy. I hike
hilly/rocky trails especially in Tennessee and Missouri. I just
moved to South Carolina and am planning to check out the terrain here
with my fourteen year-old son.

The Zip Ztove Sierra stove came with: the burner bowl, power supply, blower and
instructions. The Zip Ztove Sierra stove is an aluminum backpacking stove that
burns almost anything combustible: wood, dried dung, leaves,
pinecones, paper, charcoal and other solid fuels. This
stove is
operated by igniting combustible material in the well of the stove
(called the combustion chamber) and then turning on the fan to force
oxygen through the fire to make the fuel burn hotter and more
efficiently. To assemble the stove, I set the burner bowl on top of the
blower, which also acts as the stand. There are two speeds to regulate
the temperature.
The manufacturer states that it will boil water in four minutes on the
highest setting. Any backpacking cookset can be used with the
stove. It is powered by one AA battery. The instructions
warn not to put the battery in backwards because that turns the fan in
the opposite direction and will suck the fire into the motor and ruin
the motor. The battery compartment is marked clearly. The blower
and power supply store inside the combustion chamber of the stove when
not in use. Accessories and parts are sold separately.

Field Experience

I
have used this stove at least ten times a year for the past two years
primarily during the summer months, in Tennessee and Missouri, in rain
and sun. I sold my duel fuel backpacking stove after I bought the
Sierra stove because
the Sierra was lighter and I didn’t have a fuel bottle to carry.
I just
burn what I find. I have burned sticks, leaves, pinecones, pine
needles, and paper. I have used this stove as my only means for
cooking on a three-day river trip and it worked great.

To
ignite the fuel: Like the instructions suggest, I carry
cottonballs smeared with Vaseline in a ziplock bag. I put one
cottonball under four to five 3" (7.62 cm) sticks, or whatever else I
find to burn, in the combustion chamber. I use a match to ignite the
cottonball because it is difficult to get a lighter down into the
combustion chamber. The cottonball ignites quickly and this seems to
help when the fuel is damp. The fan also seems to dry out the
damp fuel as the cottonball burns. After the initial fire is
established, I add enough sticks to fill up the combustion chamber to
3/4 full (per the instructions), make sure that fuel ignites, then turn
on the fan. There is room between the stand the pot sits on and
the rim of the combustion chamber to add more fuel so I can continue to
cook as long as I add fuel. I cannot see how much fuel is in there
because the fire burns so hot, so I add more fuel ( a stick or two)
approximately every two minutes. The fire has never died for me.
I do have to break up the fuel because the diameter of the combustion
chamber is only 4” (10 cm) and 2.75” (7 cm) deep, so the sticks
should be about 3.5” (9 cm) long, at the longest. The
fuel burns completely to gray ash because the fire is so hot with the
forced ventilation.

On the highest
setting one quart of water really does boil in 4-6 minutes in the
summer, in Tennessee, which is humid and hot, 80 F to 100 F (26.7 C to
37.8 C), especially when I put a lid on the pot.

Three main considerations that make this stove different from other stoves are:1.
Finding dry fuel in a downpour. However, it truly burns anything
combustible very efficiently even if the fuel is damp. I have never
tried to burn water-soaked fuel because I always seem to find something
“damp” rather than soaked to burn. 2. Carrying extra
batteries to make sure the fan will run. The stove will work
without the fan, but not nearly as efficiently. I had to do this once
when the battery got wet because I left the battery, not the stove, out
in the rain. I have never used more than one battery in one
weekend cooking two meals per day on it. 3. Burning wood, or
wood related fuel (dung, leaves, pinecones), turns my pans black.
I think this might help with heat efficiency, but it is kind of a
mess. I just make sure that I keep my pans in their own stuff
sack so the black junk doesn’t get other items in my pack dirty.
I have also, rubbed gravel and/or the ash left from the fire in the
stove on the bottom of the pan to take off some of the black.

This
stove has always worked very well for me. I take it to cook
breakfast when we car camp because it’s simpler and quicker to use than
my duel fuel two-burner camp stove. The burner bowl does get hot to the
touch. It cools in about ten minutes, five to six minutes if I
leave the fan on after the fuel has burned up. It rains a lot in
Tennessee, and I have always been able to make a fire in this
stove. It is aluminum, so it dents and scratches easily, but I
have not been especially careful with it and it operates fine, it just
looks bad. I like that this stove’s motor is a simple mechanism and a
new motor from ZZ Manufacturing can be ordered for US $7.00.

Summary

I
absolutely would recommend this stove for multi-day trips. This stove requireds no stinky
spilled fuel, is lightweight, and easy to use. I will
continue to use it in my future backpacking, and kayak day/overnight
trips.

Product tested and reviewed in each Formal Test Report has been provided free of charge by the manufacturer to BackpackGearTest.org. Upon completion of the Test Series the writer is permitted to keep the product. Owner Reviews are based on product owned by the reviewer personally unless otherwise noted.